


Billy Russo/Reader Oneshots

by banditthewriter



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 15:16:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16835206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banditthewriter/pseuds/banditthewriter
Summary: A collection of my oneshots from my tumblr. These are all Billy Russo/Reader and range from general to very explicit. Each chapter is a standalone fic.





	1. Don't Listen To Them

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: The reader really likes Billy but because of gossip, she’s worried that he’ll leave her after one night. Luckily Billy surprises her by showing her how different and loving he is.

The first time you met Billy Russo, you were almost ready to write him off as just a pretty face. Within the first five minutes, you realized that you probably misjudged him. Billy was attractive, sure, but he was also smart, funny, and honest in a way that was refreshing.

And so what if he paid more attention to you than he did to your editor? It wasn’t like you asked him to ignore her; you were supposed to be a shadow. Your editor had even told you not to say anything since she had assumed that the subject of the article was going to be some sort of asshole.

Instead the subject of the article had been thoughtful, interesting, and completely bewitched by you. At some point your editor simply passed you the questions and then slipped from the room.

“So, Mr Russo,” you said, clearing your throat as you looked over the remaining questions. “Do you—”

“Billy,” he corrected with a smile, shifting a bit in the chair before he leaned forward to rest his forearms on the table. “I prefer to be called Billy by people I get along with; Mr Russo is for the people at Anvil.”

You returned the smile as you tapped your pen against the pad of paper you were holding.

“Billy then. Do you plan on expanding Anvil beyond the one location?”

He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, professional once more.

“Anvil works out of different countries, but yeah we’re only based here in the city. Would I like to expand and help these people in other states? Sure. But I prefer to be able to work with them, to look them in the eye every day that they work for me.”

“So you prefer the hands on approach,” you said as you made a note on the paper, checking that your phone was still recording.

He leaned forward once more and this time the smile was more of a smirk.

“Oh, you can definitely say that I like the hands on approach,” he said, his tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip. His smirk widened when he noticed that you tracked the movement. “Would it be too forward of me to ask you out for dinner?”

Your pen froze over the paper as you blinked up at the man across from you. He was grinning and didn’t look phased at all.

“Uh,” you began, clearing your throat and shifting a bit, casting a pointed look at your phone, “do you think this is the best time to ask that?”

“I have no shame when it comes to going after what I want,” he said honestly with a one armed shrug. “You can put that in the article, by the way.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. You also couldn’t help agreeing to the date. You knew you’d regret it if you didn’t so what choice did you really have?

——

It took a while for the two of you to match up your schedules for a date. He got slammed at Anvil and you were on deadlines, but you talked often. For some reason it surprised you that be was being a gentleman in the conversations.

When you brought that up with him, he seemed almost offended.

“What, did you think I’d be asking you to send me dirty pictures or something?” At your awkward silence, he let out a laugh. “Jesus. Well at least you didn’t lie.”

“I’m sorry,” you said in a rush, tucking one of your legs under yourself as you shifted on the couch in your office, “I shouldn’t have judged you like that. It wasn’t fair to me. I don’t know you anymore than you know me.”

“That’s why you go on dates, right?” You could hear his smile as you agreed with his flawless argument there. “So what do you say? I think we’ve dragged our feet enough. Let’s go on a real date.”

You smiled and admitted that he was right.

“Pick a time and a place.”

Simple as that.

——

The restaurant that Billy picked was the picture definition of being off the beaten path. It was tucked into an alley way and if he hadn’t been leading you, you didn’t think you would have found it by yourself. The clientele was a mix of businessmen and hipster college students, but it worked.

“I don’t want to take the chance that we’ll be recognized,” he explained as he pulled out a chair for you to sit at the table. “Not that I think it’d be a problem that we’re dating, but I don’t want to be interrupted.”

“Dating, are we?”

He smirked but didn’t answer. When the waiter came over, he took your drink orders and then wandered off, leaving the two of you alone again. You were in the back of the restaurant with your back to the rest of the room. Every now and then, Billy’s eyes shot up like he was keeping stock of the room and it clicked around the third time you caught him casing the place.

“Old habits?” At his curious look, you gestured to where he was sitting. “You like to sit where you can watch the bulk of the occupants of the room.”

He raised the glass that the waiter put in front of him in a toast to your observational skills, but you weren’t a journalist for the fun of it. You were good at your job.

The two of you took turns telling stories about yourselves for a while after that. He had a few humorous stories to tell from the service and you told him about getting sexiled from your dorm every Friday for an entire semester before you finally requested a single room. 

The most startling thing about the date was that it was never awkward. Even the lulls while the two of you were eating weren’t uncomfortable. It was possible the best first date you’d ever been on.

He would lean forward and brush his fingers against your cheek or let his hand brush yours on the table. Not wanting him to feel discouraged, you bumped your ankle against his and let it stay hooked there for a moment. It felt like the flirting you did in high school or college; innocent and chaste.

The only difference was the look in his eyes. There was genuine attention there, but there was something else. A warmth, or maybe more aptly a hunger. Yes, hunger, that was the word you were looking for. He looked at you the same way you’d seen people look at a particularly appetizing meal.

Not that you felt much differently. While you were never one to invite a guy back to your place on the first date, you were sorely rethinking that plan with him in front of you. 

Nearing the end of the meal, you watched as he stiffened a bit in his chair. His eyes were directed over your shoulder and when you started to turn, he cleared his throat.

“Are we thinking about dessert? I’ve heard good things about their cheesecake here.” 

You watched as he grabbed the dessert menu but he was shooting quick glances over your shoulder in a way that still made you want to turn. Instead you checked the hallway nearby and gave him a quick smile.

“I’m going to head to the restroom for a moment,” you said as you stood up, grabbing your purse as you did so. “Go ahead and order a piece of that cheesecake so we can see if it lives up to the hype.”

The answering smile was honest and made you relax a bit as you walked towards the restrooms. There was still an urge to check in the direction that he had been looking, but you restrained yourself as you let the door shut behind you. 

After finishing up in the stall, you stepped out and froze when you saw someone you hadn’t heard come into the bathroom standing near the sinks. You met her eyes and gave her a quick smile before you walked over to the sinks to wash your hands.

“You’re here with Billy Russo?” There was something in her voice that made you pause before you continued your movements. “Do you work with him at Anvil?”

That was a strange question. You glanced at her as you walked over to the paper towel dispenser.

“No,” you said uneasily, not sure you should be giving her any more information than that. 

“Hm, so this is a date then?” When you didn’t answer, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “I just wanted to catch you in here so that I could give you some helpful hints. Billy Russo is a one and done kind of guy and if you sleep with him, he’ll never call you again. And of course if you don’t sleep with him, he’ll get bored and will stop calling you.”

Well. You threw away the paper towels and started towards the door, not giving her another look. You watched her take a step towards you, but when you stepped out, she wasn’t following you.

Billy’s eyes darted up to you as you approached. There was a layer of apprehension on him that wasn’t there when you’d left, but when you settled back down in your chair, he relaxed a bit.

“I have one piece of cheesecake and two forks,” he said as he gestured to the plate that was sitting in the middle of the table. “This could be life changing. Are you ready?”

Your eyes darted for a second to the woman as she was leaving the bathroom and then you looked back down at the cheesecake. It looked almost too good to eat.

“Let’s do this,” you said as you lowered your fork to the dessert.

——

Weirdness in the ladies room aside, the date was perfect. The two of you had a lot of common interests and by the time he was paying the bill, you were revisiting that idea about inviting him back to your place. Not wanting to seem to forward, you decided to play it by ear.

As he walked you out onto the street, you could tell that he wanted to say something and you were pretty sure you knew what that something was going to be. There were sparks flying off both of you at this point and your head was buzzing with the two glasses of wine you’d had with dinner.

“Billy,” a voice called and the two of you turned to see a black man walking up to the two of you with a smile. “Didn’t know you were going to be out this way.”

The guy gave you a quick look, his smile never wavering, and then he was looking back at Billy. Billy wrapped his arm around your waist and tugged you in. It didn’t feel proprietary; it felt like he was showing you off instead.

“Wanted to take Y/N somewhere nice,” he said as he tilted his head towards you. “Come on Curtis, you gotta talk me up here buddy.”

Curtis grinned and turned his full attention to you, holding out his hand for a handshake. 

“Not much I can say to talk him up that you probably don’t already know, but I can tell you that it’s a good sign that you’re here with him. I mean, you’re the first girl that I’ve seen him with twice.”

He said it with a smile and a laugh, but his eyes darted between the two of you once his words were out. Maybe he saw something on your face because he immediately looked at Billy who had gone rigid at your side.

“Actually, Curtis,” you said, trying not to pull out of Billy’s grasp then and there, “this is the first time I’m meeting you. It’s the first time I’ve been out with Billy.”

Curtis seemed to realize that he had stuck his foot in it. All he could do is look between the two of you before he gestured rather clumsily behind him.

“I’m gonna… nice to meet you Y/N. Billy.”

You thought you saw him mouth something at Billy, but you weren’t focusing on him. Instead you were thinking about what the woman in the bathroom had said about Billy and starting to feel like a fool.

Billy tugged you a bit closer to him but you carefully moved away. 

“Y/N,” he began, but you shook your head and gave him a smile.

“Tonight has been great,” you said honestly, not bothering to add ‘up until now’ since it was obvious, “but I’m really tired and I have an early morning. I think I’m just going to head home.”

You got maybe two feet away when he was there, grabbing your wrist and turning you so that you were facing him once more.

“Come on Y/N, I feel like we’ve gotten off to the wrong foot here. Up until now, we were doing fine.”

You were. In fact, up until that moment, you were thinking that this might be the beginning of something wonderful. And now?

“I’ll talk to you soon,” you said as you pulled your arm free.

He didn’t try to stop you again, simply watched as you flagged down a cab and slipped inside. After you gave the driver your address, you turned your head and caught a glimpse of Billy before the car started to move.

You weren’t certain, but you thought that he looked as disappointed as you felt.

——

Over the next few days, you got a dozen texts and calls from Billy. It wasn’t like you wanted to ignore him, but it made more sense than letting yourself get even more attached. And how did you get attached so quickly? Never before had you ever gone on one date with a guy and then start thinking in terms of the future.

What was it about Billy that had you so spun out?

Your phone was ringing again and you stared at it from your spot at your desk. You were spending more and more time at work to try to keep yourself busy. He usually only called once a day, so when the phone fell silent, you breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed in your chair.

He’d give up at some point. He was just enjoying the chase because he didn’t get what he wanted.

Only that didn’t feel right. It didn’t seem like Billy was trying to get you into bed. The two of you talked for a week and a half between that first meeting and the date and never did you feel like he was just biding his time. He was never overly sexual towards you, although there was always a thin line at the way he was looking at you in a crowded room and how you imagined he’d look at you spread out on his bed.

Did someone turn up the heat? You tugged at the collar of your shirt and pushed your chair back, about to cross over to your windows to crack one when your phone lit up with another call.

It was a local number but it wasn’t saved in your phone. Thinking about the various people you’d been reaching out to for comments on articles, you grabbed the device and answered the call.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you said in greeting, scooting back to the desk in case you needed to take a message.

“So your phone does work,” came a voice that you didn’t expect. “Y/N? You hang up on me?”

“No Billy,” you said, eyes clenched shut as you cursed your stupidity, “I didn’t hang up on you.”

You should. In fact you still should. The only thing was that you didn’t want to. 

“You’ve been avoiding me. I’ve been calling and texting every day and it took me calling from my office to get you to answer.”

True enough.

“Listen Billy,” you began, but he cut in before you could continue.

“Our date was going great and yeah, the thing with Curtis was awkward, but I don’t think that would have caused you to run off like that. What else was it, huh?”

“I’m not trying for a broken heart Billy,” you said softly. “I’m looking for real; I want more than a quick tumble. I like you but I can’t get involved with less.”

You weren’t sure what you expected to hear from that. It wasn’t like you thought he was going to profess his undying love or something; in reality, you’d given up on anything with Billy, much less something meaningful. It was all a fantasy that you’d been woken up from finally.

“I don’t want that either,” Billy admitted equally as soft. “I’d like to give us a chance for more. I’m not saying we’ll last, but don’t you think we owe it to ourselves to fucking try rather than to let everyone else decide things for us? There’s more to me than what people see and I thought you could see that.”

Could you? You honestly thought that you could. Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding. Maybe you could find a way.

”I like you and I think you like me too. There’s potential here for us and I think we deserve the chance to try.”

He was right. 

“Okay,” you said with a deep breath. “One chance.”

You knew you’d made the right decision.

“I won’t let you regret this.”

——

The restaurant was littered with businessmen and hipsters alike. Billy had groaned when he saw the line out front, but you had called ahead to make a reservation. Sure enough, Curtis and his girlfriend Amy were already at the table.

“This way,” you said as you tugged on Billy’s sleeve, waving at the pair at the table. 

He sighed and wrapped his arm around your waist.

“Have I told you lately how grateful I am to have you in my life?”

The two of you sat down at the table after giving Curtis and Amy each a hug. Amy was eager to tell the two of you about Curtis making a fool out of himself when he met her parents, barely letting you guys order a drink before she launched into the story.

“I’ve never seen a man back pedal so fast,” she said through her laughter. 

You sent a grin to the man in question, nudging Billy’s shoulder a bit.

“Why don’t you tell her about the first time I met him?”

Amy was grinning wide as she looked between the three of you while Curtis was trying to change the subject, shaking his head because he knew there was no use. And Billy was laughing.

“Oh, you want to hear about a man back pedaling? Let me set the scene for you.”

Billy was getting into the story telling, setting up the scene like some sort of Greek tragedy. Curtis had covered his face at one point but you could see his shoulders shaking at Billy’s storytelling. Amy, bless her, was listening intently with a grin that said that she was storing this information for later.

Movement nearby drew your attention and you glanced over to see who it was. It took you a moment to place her face, but then it hit you because Billy had just mentioned you going to the bathroom on your first date—"Part of me thought she might be trying to climb out through a window"—and you knew that this was the woman that had cornered you that night.

She looked surprised to see you and then she caught sight of who you were leaning against and her eyes widened even further. You couldn’t remember her exact words from that night, but you knew that she would be surprised to see him with you after so much time.

Unable to keep from rubbing salt in the wound a little more, you draped your arm over Billy’s shoulder while not interrupting the story, making sure the glint from your wedding ring caught her eye.

It had taken almost three years, but you finally got revenge for her sabotaging your first date.

Billy leaned over and pressed his lips to yours, barely pausing in the story for the time it took, and you saw the smirk on his face. Maybe you hadn’t been as stealthy as you had thought, but you didn’t mind.

You and Billy had worked it out in the end.


	2. Kiss Cam ficlet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: The kiss cam at a basketball game is such a cute idea. And then it lands on the reader and Billy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a cute little ficlet! Hope you enjoy!

You had never been a fan of basketball, but when you were invited to the game, you decided to branch out. It was supposed to be a business outing where you could talk about the job, but then you realized that your coworker invited Billy Russo.

And to top it all, she had made it so that his seat was next to yours. It was embarrassing enough that she knew about your disastrous crush on him. You didn’t want him to find out too.

He had given you a smile as he settled in next to you, but besides apologizing for bumping into you once or twice, he didn’t talk to you much.

Silently you made yourself the reminder to tell your coworker that you hated her.

During the halftime break, your coworker and the guy that came with Billy both got up to go get drinks and food for the rest of you. It left you alone with Billy in the seats and you shifted a bit.

“It’s been a good game,” he said, speaking to you directly for the first time that day.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t really know,” you said as you glanced at the scoreboard, “I’m not a fan of basketball. I thought this was going to be a business outing.”

“Me too,” Billy said with a raised eyebrow as he looked up the ramp his friend had gone. “Frank told me that it was for networking.”

“That’s what Karen said,” you said suspiciously.

What were the two of them up to?

Before either you or Billy could do more than share a look, Kiss The Girl from The Little Mermaid started to blare from the speakers as the Kiss Cam came up. You smiled as a couple in their seventies each grinned and gave a quick peck.

Next were teenagers that were obviously on a date. The girl leaned over and planted one of her date to the laughter of the crowd. After them was another couple but the guy held up a ready made sign that said “She’s my sister” to the laughter of the crowd.

The next couple took your a moment but then you realized it was you and Billy. The crowd around you started to hoot and holler, singing along to tell him to kiss you. The jumbo-tron made it more obvious that Billy was a little flushed.

“Oh here,” you said as you tapped your cheek, “let’s just play along.”

He leaned in and kissed your cheek, his stubble scraping against you as he leaned back. The crowd booed but the camera went to the next couple who was more inclined to participate.

“Sorry about that,” he said with a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Good thing this wasn’t a business outing. Don’t think you’re supposed to kiss your coworkers.”

No, but you might kill yours. 

The music started to grow louder and you glanced at the screen just in time to see it go back to you and Billy. This time there was an added border that said “You can do better than that” which made the crowd go wild.

“This is mortifying,” you said as you tried to sink down in your seat.

Billy turned to look at you and you saw a glint in his eye as he leaned in a bit.

“Better make this one count then,” he said before he cupped your chin to pull you into a kiss. 

You thought it would be a peck, just something to appease the crowd. Instead his mouth moved over yours deliberately and his tongue delved between your lips to deepen the kiss. Your hand went to the back of his head to hold him close, your body leaning up into the embrace. 

You’d had a lot of dreams about this moment, but it was so much better in reality.

The roar of the crowd reached ear drum shattering and you both pulled back to see a heart drawn around the feed of the two of you before the Kiss Cam turned off. Then it was showing a few of the plays from earlier in the game.

Billy leaned back and wiped his thumb across his bottom lip, his eyes never leaving yours. You reached a hand up to lightly touch your lips before you cleared your throat and sat up a little straighter.

“I feel like I should apologize for that too,” he said seriously, his eyes darker than before, “but I really don’t want to.”

You swallowed thickly and found yourself smiling.

“That’s good because I don’t want you to.”

Billy’s answering smile had your heart thudding painfully in your chest.

When Karen and Frank got back to their seats, they found their friends gone. At that moment, both of their phones rang and they pulled up to check their messages.

Billy had sent one to Frank that said **I owe you one**.

And you had sent one to Karen that said **Tell us how the game ends**.

“That worked better than we expected,” Frank said as he sat down in Billy’s vacated seat with Karen beside him.

“Should have done that a long time ago,” Karen agreed as she leaned in and gave Frank a quick kiss.


	3. Not The Same Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy Russo x Reader fic where Billy and the reader had a relationship years back before he went to Afghanistan and they rekindle their relationship again when he is just over Dinah.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy!

Billy Russo was someone that you met by accident and somehow it turned into the two of you dating for almost a year. He was in the Marines and between deployments, but the two of you were happy. You knew that his next deployment would be hard for you because you’d never been with someone that wasn’t there all the time, but you were ready to try.

And to his credit, Billy did everything he could to keep you happy. Any time the two of you had a disagreement, he bent over backwards to see things from your position. Sometimes it seemed like he was walking on eggshells around you, but you were never able to get him to admit to it.

He wanted you to be happy. That much was obvious. And the feeling was very much mutual.

The news of his next deployment coming up shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but when he sat you down to tell you about it, you still found yourself facing a future that you weren’t sure of.

“You’ll still be able to keep in touch, right? It’s not like you’re dropping off the edge of the world.”

He shrugged as he started to fold his clothes.

“Sometimes we have to go radio silent for a while, but yeah, usually there’s ways to contact others. It’s not like I’ll be able to drop everything and call you to ask how your day has been though.”

You weren’t sure where the attitude was coming from but you tried not to give in to it. He was under a lot of a stress and you didn’t want to add on to it.

“As long as you’re safe,” you said, knowing the moment the words came out that they were the wrong ones to use.

“I won’t be safe,” he said without looking away from the clothes he was pulling from the drawers of the dresser. “I’ll be shot at daily. There will be dozens if not hundreds of people trying to shoot me or stab me or blow me up. Not to mention the likelihood of friendly fire. I may not come home in one piece. I may not come home at all.”

He’s slamming the drawers closed, shoving his clothes so hard into the duffle bag that you’re pretty sure you heard a seam tear.

“Why are you trying to pick a fight?” When he didn’t do anything more than shrug, you figured out what he was doing. “Okay Billy, it’s obvious that you’re goal is to push me away. If that’s what you want before you go, fine, but know that I’ll be here when you pull your head out of your ass. Go on your deployment, keep yourself as safe as you can, and when you come back we can see where we stand.”

It wasn’t what you wanted and you could feel the tears falling from your eyes as you turned to go back into the living room. You waited for him to say no, to push back on it, but what you heard made you stop moving completely.

“That sounds like a good idea,” he said softly. 

Angry, you spun around to face him. He had come up behind you silently and you gasped when you saw that he looked just as wrecked as you felt. Without another word, he leaned down and pressed a too gentle kiss to your lips before he started towards the door.

“I’ll keep in touch,” he said before the door shut behind him.

It took a few days of moping around around your apartment for your friends to find you and get the details out of you. It was as you rehashed the details of the not-fight that you realized just how fucked up it was.

“Seriously? He just left?”

“Yeah,” you said miserably, your anger starting up again. “I can’t believe he left. What an asshole!”

You had your five stages of grief out of order, but you finally got to the point where you accepted what had happened. It came around the time that you realized he’d been gone for four months and hadn’t contacted you.

That was the first day you referred to yourself as single. It hurt a little less than you thought it would.

——

It was a morbid curiosity that made you follow Billy’s career from that point. He left the Marines after the next deployment and set about starting a business, making himself into the man he always told you he could be. Anvil became a big name in the private sector which your circled in your own job.

Your company might not be as big as his, but you were making a name for yourself as well. It was a surprise that you never crossed paths, but you realized that it was only a matter of time.

Especially after you moved to the city in order to grow your own business. Realizing that you were in the same city meant you might run into each other, you thought about searching him out. It wasn’t for any reason other than giving him a heads up so that he wasn’t caught off guard.

And maybe because you wondered if there was still something there. You wondered if there would be a spark or if both of you would just pretend like you hadn’t lived together, hadn’t been building a life that he tore down in a few sentences.

The anger had gone away a long time ago. Now all that was left was an emptiness that you figured came from the lack of closure.

Late at night you wondered if it was just that you missed him. Missed him like a missing limb.

It’s a few days after you decide to try to reach out when you see him for the first time in the city. His laugh is what caught you first, a sound you had dreamed about. He’s at a table with a woman and at first you think it’s a business thing until she reaches over and runs her fingers up his arm.

She’s beautiful, looks like she doesn’t take any shit. You found yourself bitterly thinking that she wouldn’t let Billy just walk out of her life.

With that thought, you spun around and walked away from the cafe. He’s obviously moved on, though why wouldn’t he have? 

Guess he doesn’t need that heads up after all.

——

Somehow it took six months for you to properly run into him.

The conference was holding different topics in the same hotel. He was giving a talk on security firms and you were participating in a panel about tech security growth. You’d seen his company on the list but had thought he wouldn’t be the one showing up.

Honestly, you should have known other.

Part of you wondered if he had seen your name and had come with the intention of seeing you, but his honest surprise at seeing you sign in absolved you of that. You were signing your name on a tag to put on your shirt when he came up to you.

“Y/N?” You froze and turned to face him. He smiled and looked you from head to toe before he let out a whistle. “You look amazing. God, how long has it been?”

“Couple years,” you said as you turned around to finish your nametag. As you attached it to your shirt, you turned to face him once more. “You look good too.”

He did. He wore his hair much the same although it was slicked back whereas he wore it loose before. His suit looked like it cost more than your first car, but it also looked like it was made for him specifically. And he looked happy to see you.

Happier than you thought he would look at least.

“How’ve you—”

He didn’t get to finish the question before someone was calling his name, gesturing towards a door. He checked his watch and frowned before he met your eyes once more.

“I’ll find you after my talk?”

“Sure,” you said sarcastically, hoping he didn’t catch on to that. 

No way in hell he’d actually look for you. This was just a coincidence.

In your panel, most of you spent the hour telling high school boys that there was more to tech security than hacking but they all were basing it off of the things they’d seen on television. The final question was directed to you about personal security and you paste on a smile before you go into your usual spiel.

By the end of it, you’re operating on cruise control. It’s right after you finish that you recognize someone sitting in the back of the room. How long had Billy been there?

Crap, you thought as all of you thanked the crowd for coming out. You wished your heart was beating as fast as it was just then. How dare he still effect you like this?

After everyone else cleared out, you head down the stairs to where he’s sitting. He had a grin stretched across his face and when you approached him, he gave you a short round of applause.

“You’re a force to reckon with,” he said as he stood up. “I’m really proud of you. I know that you built your company from the ground up. It’s really grown a reputation for being the best out there.”

That more than anything was a surprise.

“Thanks,” you said honestly. “I could say the same about Anvil. Everyone in the community says it’s the best of the best.”

He tilted his head to acknowledge the comment but didn’t do more than that. You wondered if he had outgrown the need to brag, the ego he had before, or if maybe he was just trying to seem above it.

Not that you could think of a single reason he’d want to impress you.

“How’ve you been?” 

Somehow you both ended up at the hotel bar. Billy ordered two beers before you could object, but you didn’t think that was your plan anyways. You found yourself wanting to spend the time with him.

“Good,” you said as you accepted your drink from the bartender. “It’s been a good few years for me.”

Both of you traded stories about your time apart. You told him about growing the company and moving to the city. He told you about launching a side venture with his buddy Frank, adding that he could use someone tech savvy on the team.

“Not full time of course,” he said with a grin, “but as a consultant.”

“Yeah right,” you said as you took a long drink from your beer.

“I’m serious,” he began, but a notification from his phone made him pause. Once he checked it, he frowned and started to pull some money from his wallet. “I’m sorry Y/N, but I have to go. I mean it about the consultant position though. You’ll give it some thought?”

There was no use in telling him yes or no because he was gone before you could even formulate a response. 

A small, petty part of you wondered if the text was from that woman you saw him with six months before. She sure seemed comfortable with him. Maybe she had been what he needed.

You drained your drink and put it on the bar before you stood up, tearing off your sticky name tag as you did.

Who knows how long it would be before you saw him again?

——

Apparently three days was how long it would be. Your secretary came into your office and handed you a message she had taken while you were on lunch.

It was Billy’s information with a request to call him about consulting with Anvil on tech security. Your hand hovered for a moment before you sighed a grabbed your phone to dial the number he had left.

“Billy Russo,” was the greeting that came after the first three rings.

“Hi Billy, it’s Y/N,” you began, feeling silly for having to introduce yourself to someone you used to live with. “My secretary had a message from you?”

“I’m glad you’re getting back to me. I almost expected you not to want to,” he admitted, a smile in his voice. “I know you thought I was joking, but I really am interested in opening up a consulting position. You’d have full authority on any projects we work on and it’d be half your intellectual property. Plus the pay is good if I do say so myself.”

You should say no. Letting yourself be around him would just be asking for trouble. Instead you found yourself agreeing to meet with him at Anvil.

It served the dual purpose of showing you what he’d built as well as being able to show you directly what you’d be doing. The position was simple enough and his buddy Frank was a nice enough guy. You got the feeling that Frank knew who you were because he kept grinning at Billy in a way that made you think you were missing a punchline.

“Let’s go to my office,” Billy said as he started to lead you in that direction. “We still have a lot to go over.”

You had questions, but half way through them you found yourself laughing at a story he was telling you about Frank. He was painting a picture from his last deployment and while it felt like a knife in your ribs, you couldn’t help but laugh.

You’d missed him. It was so weird to realize because missing him had just been part of your genetic makeup for so long that you’d almost forgotten. Had he missed you?

At some point Frank came by, eyeing the two of you with a grin as he told Billy that he was heading home.

“You two have been in here for a few hours, but I’m going to head home,” he said before he told you it was a pleasure to meet you.

“You too,” you said, surprised and in awe that you’d been talking to Billy for hours.

Once Frank was gone, you noticed that Billy looked just as thrown as you did.

“Feels more like a date than an interview,” you joked, not sure if that was a good idea or not.

Billy grinned at you, leaning forward onto his forearms to look you over.

“You’d know if it was a date,” he said in a voice that reminded you of… things you were best not remembering while alone with him in his office.

Had you simply forgotten how easily he could get under your skin or was that a new skill he had acquired over time? 

Agreeing that it was late, Billy walked you to the front of the building. You promised him that you were parked close but no, you didn’t need him to walk you. As you turned to thank him for the opportunity and that you’d let him know if you accepted the position, he grabbed your hand and ran his thumb along your wrist.

“Go on a date with me,” he said with a smile, something so familiar and hopeful in his voice.

And really, was there any other way this was going to go?

——

The restaurant that the two of you ended up at was a lot more laid back than you were expecting. The whole night seemed like he was trying to differentiate not only between who he had been but also who he was now. He wasn’t the man that had left and never contacted you again anymore but he also wasn’t just the guy that ran Anvil.

He was something else. Something more. And you were glad to be getting to know him.

As both of you were finishing up your food, you realized that you owed him a little honesty just then.

“About six months I saw you at an outdoor cafe with this really attractive woman,” you began, fiddling with your napkin before you met his gaze again. “Curly brown hair, beautiful eyes, really handsy? I kind of thought you two were together.”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair a bit.

“We had been but the relationship didn’t work. She’s all business.”

“Ah,” you said with a small smile. “All work, no play?”

“Well I didn’t say that,” he said with a grin that made you roll your eyes, “but it didn’t seem like it was going to work out in the long run. Maybe I was still hung up on you.”

Wouldn’t that be something, but you didn’t buy it.

“Oh I highly doubt that.”

“I mean it Y/N,” he said and you could see that he was being honest and sincere. “I regretted not going back to you to talk about us. I got it into my head that it wouldn’t work and then I sabotaged it in some sort of self fulfilling prophecy. By time I realized how big of a mistake I’d made, I knew you’d have moved on.”

Moved on? You wanted to laugh. While you sipped your wine, you tried to think of the best response. Did you tell him that you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since you saw him at the convention? Well, no, you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since you saw him at the cafe that day.

If you were honest, you’d never been able to stop thinking about him no matter how hard you’d tried.

He was more than what he appeared and he was more than what he’d been. Maybe it was time for you guys to give it another shot.

“You left an old t-shirt at my place,” you said seemingly off topic. “Just a plain blue t-shirt but it smelled like you for the longest time. It’s still my favorite thing to wear when I go to bed.”

There. That was as much as you’d give him. He still had a lot of your trust to earn back.

“I’d like to see that some time,” he said equally flirty and hopefully. 

“Play your cards right and you just might Mr Russo.”


	4. Move Right In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy x Reader where they have been friends for some time and they decide to move in together and Billy confesses his feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!

When you got the apartment, you knew that you were getting what you paid for. The apartment was small and dingy, more of a studio than an apartment. But it was located in a good enough part of the city that you didn’t feel like you needed to sleep with one eye open and that was good.

But you got what you paid for. At first it was the pipes being difficult. The water couldn’t decide if it wanted to drip or rush out of the faucet, was hot when it should have been cold and vice versa. Then there was the morning you woke up to find that your ceiling had started to cave in on you.

The water on the floor was the last straw. You finally went to the landlord with Billy Russo at your side. You weren’t sure if it was just that he had been a Marine or if it was his lucrative career as the owner of a kickass security firm, but your landlord folded and promised to take care of it.

Originally he had said that you’d only be displaced for a day or two, but on the third day at the hotel, he told you that it looked more like a few weeks.

“The building isn’t passing code so they are going to have to do some renovations,” he said apologetically over the phone, voices in the background from the workers. “We can put your stuff in storage until your place is ready to move back into. I’ll even stop charging you rent until it’s fixed.”

“I’m sorry, it’s bad enough that I have to move my stuff out?” That was less than hopeful.

“Only if you don’t want your stuff covered in asbestos and toxic mold.”

You slumped in your desk chair as you hung up the phone. IT work didn’t really make for a big payday most days and now you were essentially homeless? You couldn’t live in a hotel room for a few weeks and pay for a storage unit for all of your stuff. 

“Well that didn’t sound good,” Billy said as he leaned against your desk. “Bad news?”

“Horrible news. I have to move all of my belongings out of the apartment for at least two weeks while they work on getting it up to code. I’m so screwed.”

When you went to slump against your desk again, Billy put his hand down so your forehead thunked against that instead. As you turned your head to look at him, he rolled his eyes and shrugged his free shoulder.

“Why don’t you come stay with me? I have the extra room and it’ll help you save up. No use paying for somewhere else just for a few weeks.” When you didn’t immediately jump to accept, he gave you a grin and added, “We can carpool.”

It was a perk to work for Anvil as part of a contract with your company to get to spend time with Billy already. You and Billy had been friends for a while before you even accepted the position. You had asked him seriously if it’d be a problem but he insisted since you didn’t answer directly to him, it’d be okay.

Although you knew that even if you did answer directly to him, it’d still be okay. That was the thing with Billy; he was really great at his job. You had a feeling that he was really great at everything he did.

“When was the last time you even had a roommate?”

It was a last ditch effort but Billy simply shrugged with a smile and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I slept in barracks with a dozen other guys. Having someone in my penthouse apartment isn’t going to be too big of an obstacle for me.”

He might have a point there, but you were pretty sure that you were still holding the trump card in the form of your gender.

“When was the last time you lived with a girl?” At his blank look, “You’ve never lived with a girl before, have you? No cohabitation with a previous girlfriend?”

He looked curious for a moment as if he was trying to think back and then he shrugged again, pushing off from your desk and moving to look through the window and down into the training area.

“I’m not really certain I’ve ever had what you would consider a normal girlfriend. Mostly it’s just relationships that fizzle out.”

That felt like a moment. Billy wasn’t one to open up about his past traumas, so hearing him admit that made you smile. For that, you bit your lip and thought about his offer honestly.

It would help out to have a place to live without forking out money constantly. You’d have to pay for a storage unit for all of your things. Granted you didn’t own that much right now, so it wasn’t going to have to be too big of a unit. And you had to admit that it did sound nice to stay with him for a while.

The teensy tiny crush that you had on him hadn’t fizzled out over the years as you had expected it would. These days it rarely reared it’s head, but it was always there. You’d known him long enough to know that there was a lot more to him than just what you saw on the surface.

Not that there was anything wrong with the surface. And of course it wasn’t like you were about to tell him that.

“I’ll pay for my storage unit and groceries and I’ll go halfsies on gas.” When he opened his mouth to debate that, you shook your head. “Nope, it’s either that or I’m not doing it Billy. I’m not big on charity so you’re going to have to meet me half way here.”

“It’s not charity Y/N,” he said softly as he came back over to stand next to you once more. “You’re my friend. You’d do the same if I had nowhere else to go.”

You smiled because it was true, but he was quick to ruin the moment.

“Of course I’d probably sleep in my car before I stayed in your crack den,” he joked as he pulled his keys out. Finding what he was looking for, he unhooked it and tossed you a key. “There ya go.”

“A key? It’s what I’ve always wanted,” you said mockingly but truthfully you were grateful.

“It’s more than most girls get from me,” he replied with a wink as he headed to the door of your office. “Let me know when you’re done here and we can figure out the rest.”

Before he could walk, you hurried over to him and grabbed his wrist. When he turned to face you, you quickly wrapped your arms around him.

“Thanks Billy,” you said into his shoulder.

His arms around you felt nice and made you snuggle in a little more.

“Don’t mention it.”

——

It took less than four hours to move all of your belongings from your apartment to the storage unit. It would have taken longer but Billy had refused your offer to look into a moving company and had requisitioned some of his guys.

“It’s the least dangerous work they’ll have for a while,” he said as he looked around your ‘crack den’ with a frown. “Well, probably.”

All that you brought with you to his place was two suitcases and a box of things you couldn’t be without. He had bedding and towels, but you still brought a few of those with you as well.

“The penthouse came with a lot of this stuff,” he explained as he put the box at the foot of the large bed. “I know you’ve slept in here before so you can make yourself at home. Nothing is off limits but I do sleep naked so maybe knock before you come in. Or don’t,” he added with a wink before he left you alone in your new room.

It was ridiculous that this was your life. Your apartment was unlivable so somehow you’d become roommates with your drop dead gorgeous best friend? If you put this on the internet, no one would believe you.

“I’m going to make dinner, do you have any requests?”

You groaned into the pillow before you shouted back that you didn’t have any preferences. This was going to be an interesting few weeks.

——

You went from spending a good deal of your work day with Billy to spending almost your entire day plus your entire time with him. The funny thing was that you two never ran out of things to talk about but when you did fall into silence, it wasn’t awkward.

On more than one night you found yourself fiddling with your tablet or laptop while he worked on something and it felt… normal. 

The weird part was that it wasn’t weird.

When you mentioned that it was interesting to spend your day and night with Billy, he had laughed at you over the salad he was making.

“First time I’ve heard spending the night with me is interesting,” he said as he diced cucumbers.

“Oh yeah, what do they usually say?”

“That it’s been a pleasure,” he replied as he smirked at you.

It wasn’t the first time he’d flirted with you. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time he’d flirted with you today. Usually you ignored it or jokingly flirted back, but recently it had felt different. More direct maybe.

“Speaking about that,” you said, shifting uncomfortably. 

Billy noticed your discomfort and stopped what he was doing to face you.

“Hey, you can talk to me about anything. What’s up?”

Quick, before you lose your nerve.

“If you want to have a girl over or something, just give me a heads up and I’ll make myself scarce. I have other friends I can spend the night with so that you can have privacy.”

He blinked at you and you wondered if maybe you hadn’t said the words after all. Just as you were about to repeat yourself, he shook his head and went back to the salad.

“That is not something you need to worry about,” he said evenly but there was something else in his voice.

Something that told you that this wasn’t up for debate.

——

At the one week mark, you were curled up on the couch with your phone in your hands as you scrolled through your matches on a dating app. A few had messaged you, but the messages had all been the same.

“Ugh,” you said as you closed out of the app, honestly thinking about deleting it.

“I told you to stop reading the news,” Billy said without looking up from the book he was reading on the other end of the couch, your feet almost in his lap.

“No, it’s the guys on these dating apps. All they care about is sex. Is it too much to want more?”

Something crossed his face that you couldn’t name. When he met your eyes, you felt butterflies start up in your stomach.

“You deserve more,” Billy says softly. Then, with more confidence, “I think we need to talk.”

That was never good. Everything you’d done in the last week went through your head and you tried to figure out if you had irritated him somehow. Maybe he wasn’t as ready for a roommate as he had thought.

“Am I a bad roommate?”

He laughed, his hand falling to your leg to give it a gentle squeeze. You sat up to face him and he shook his head at your question.

“You’re a great roommate actually, that’s kind of the problem. I love having you here but it’s given me a hint of how it could be. I like waking up and knowing you’re here but one day I’d like to wake up and see you beside me.”

That came out of nowhere. Blindsided was a good term for how you felt just then. You pulled your legs under your body as you tried to figure out if he was just talking about sex. That at least would make sense.

He must have realized where your mind went because his hand shot out to wrap around yours, giving it a firm squeeze followed by the gentle caress of his thumb against the back of your hand.

“You deserve more. I want to be that for you,” he admitted honestly, his eyes locked with yours. “I’ve had feelings for you for a while now but especially since you’re working at Anvil, I didn’t want to complicate things for you.”

It’s too much. There’s no alternate universe where Billy wants you the way you want him. You stand up and pull your hand to your side, unable to meet his eyes as you start towards your room.

“I just need,” you started quietly, clearing your throat and looking up until you saw the confusion in his eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

In your room with the door shut, you thought about things from the past week. Then you even thought about how things had been for a while now. It wasn’t just him letting you stay with him without paying him back. Hell, he had barely let you chip in for groceries or gas even thought you had made it part of your terms of moving in.

He was always there to spend time with you. He listened to you, treated you with respect. When others told you that you wouldn’t make it in the IT field, Billy had offered you a full time job with Anvil. You’d turned it down but after you made your bones in your company, you accepted a contract to join his team.

He supported you. He challenged you. He made you happy.

What were you doing all the way over here?

Quickly but as quietly as you could manage, you slipped through the penthouse to his bedroom door. You pushed the door open just as you remembered his words from your first day.

Thankfully he was at least wearing briefs. You weren’t sure how you’d be able to say what you needed to say if he was naked.

“I had a crush on you when I first met you,” you blurted out before he could even ask what was wrong. “I thought it’d go away with time but I got more and more attached. So yeah, I know how you feel. And I’ve dreamed about waking up next to you for a while now. I just figured mine was more of a pipe dream than anything else.”

He sat up a bit more and held his hand out, beckoning you forward. Steadily you moved over to him, letting him pull you into the bed and under the blankets.

The care in which he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close to his chest, told you that this wasn’t just a fling for him. This wasn’t the face of a man who had scored a quick lay; this was the face of a man who had finally gotten something he had dreamed about.

He opened his mouth to say something but you leaned in, brushing your mouth against his almost gently. The moment he realized what you had done, he cupped the back of your neck and deepened the kiss.

“I’m not going to sleep with you,” you said in a rush between kisses. Realizing how that could be confusing, you clarified, “I’ll sleep with you, but we aren’t having sex. Not yet at least.”

That last bit was added even though he didn’t seem disappointed.

“I told you that my dream was waking up with you. Everything else is just icing on the cake.”

It was entirely too cheesy, but the glint in his eye told you that he wasn’t discounting the sex at all. No, he was looking forward to that. 

With a smile, you leaned in to kiss him again.

——

“I don’t see why you can’t just stay with me,” Billy griped as you led him towards your apartment building. “You have your own room, we have our routine. It doesn’t have to change just because we’re dating.”

“It’s normal for two people in a relationship to live separately. If we live together immediately, we don’t have time to miss each other.”

He wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed your neck, his lips brushing the hickey he’d left the night before.

“I miss you all the time,” he whispered against your skin and you shivered in his hold.

“Hush,” you said as you grabbed his hand and continued to drag him forward. “This is happening Russo, accept it.”

It had been almost two weeks since you had crawled into Billy’s bed, three weeks since you’d started to stay with him. Your landlord had given you this date as the day your apartment would be available and Billy had demanded to come with you to make sure the place would be up to his standards.

You stopped in front of the building and looked at the paper that was taped to the front door. It was a notice that the building was condemned and uninhabitable.

“Well shit.”

Billy wrapped his arm around your waist and gave you a grin.

“At least you have a place to stay while you’re looking for somewhere new,” he said as he kissed your temple. “No need to rush really.”

You laughed and tugged on his shoulder, pulling him back down the street. At least to yourself you could admit that you hadn’t been ready to leave him yet anyways.

Never thought you’d be happy about being homeless but apparently it had its perks.


	5. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cute Billy x Reader oneshot where neither of them want to go to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoy.

One thing that you hated about your job was that sometimes you had to work weekends. It wasn’t often–not nearly as often as Billy had to work weekends–but often enough that you hated it. It made your week feel like it never ended because it basically didn’t. 

As Friday came around, you had officially worked 11 days already. This was about to be your twelfth day of work and you were exhausted. 

Billy had marked off his weekend and said that he wasn’t going to even leave the house. He’d been working hard and at least part of his job was more physically demanding, so you understood his need for a day off. He deserved the time off. 

“Come here,” Billy said as he tugged you under his arm, not letting you out of the bed after you turned your alarm off. “Just stay home. You’re worked to the bone as it is.”

“I’ve got high maintenance clients,” you complained although you weren’t pulling out from under him. “I’ve got three events in the next week alone that I have to finalize.”

He made a noise as he rolled so that he was spooned around you, a smile tugging on his lips.

“You have minions for that.”

“They prefer to be called associates, Billy,” you teased. 

It was a joke that he used sometimes, usually when your associates had been annoying him which was more and more lately as you were forced to pick up the slack. It wasn’t that your associates were bad at their jobs; you just had a trouble with delegating.

“Stay. One long weekend isn’t going to kill the business. Your clients won’t run for hills if you’re gone for three days.”

He rubbed his nose against your cheek, his fingers tucked against your hip. You could feel his fingers brushing gently against your skin, a silent plea for you to actually listen to him and give in.

“We can stay in bed. Your doctor mentioned his concern about your lack of physical activity during the week so maybe we can do something about that.” 

There was so much flirtation and teasing in his voice that you had to laugh. Realizing that you were approaching a time when you’d be late, you finally get out of bed and go get dressed. The teasing had ceased in favor of him grumbling every time you were out of view.

When you started to remove your pajamas, he let out a groan.

“Oh, I see how it is, you’re going to tease me with what I can’t have and then leave me here to deal with it on my own.”

That made you laugh again and you moved to kneel on the bed, leaning over his reclined body. He eyes were shining as you leaned in to press a gentle kiss against his lips and then he gave you an exaggerated pout as you pulled back.

“Don’t you go running on your days off?” 

“I could be persuaded to stay in bed,” he said with that damn smirk back on his face.

Ready for the day, you went into the kitchen to grab an apple. You usually made coffee but you had a feeling you were going to need the stronger stuff from the cafe near your office. Almost in time to leave, you went back into the bedroom to give him a kiss that he tried to deepen and headed out of the house. 

He closed his eyes as you were leaving, ready to drift back off to sleep. You knew that he wouldn’t stay asleep long; he never could sit still for long periods of time. He’d wake up in a bit, go for a run, and then he’d lounge around the house. Without you there to police him, he’d probably check in with Anvil a few times.

You were only two blocks from the house when you stopped walking. If you weren’t there to stop him, he’d end up working on his day off.

That was good enough.

With a grin, you turned back towards the house as you shot off an email to your associates to let them know you were taking the weekend off. They’d be fine without you, you knew that, so you told them that you’d be unreachable.

He must have heard the door open because he’s simply smiling when you get to the bedroom, already unbuttoning your shit. 

“My doctor was very worried about my lack of physical activity. What ideas did you have about that?”

His smile as he tugged you into bed could blind you.


End file.
